E.L. Doctorow, author of critically acclaimed historic fiction including the sprawling novels Ragtime and Billy Bathgate, has died. Doctorow was 84 and died of complications from lung cancer, his son Richard told the New York Times, which first reported the author’s passing. In addition to a dozen novels, Doctorow also published multiple volumes of short stories, essays and the stage drama Drinks Before Dinner. Ragtime was made into a feature film released in 1981…